New Jersey Employment Lawyer Blog
New Jersey is about to provide important new protections to workers who need time away from their jobs due to a family or disability leave. Starting on July 17, 2026, an amendment to the state
temporary disability insurance and family leave insurance laws adds a new entitlement to reinstatement for employees who receive either of those benefits. In plain terms, the laws that pay part of your wages while you recover from a serious illness, welcome a new child, or care for a sick family member will now also address whether your employer is required to give you your job back.
If you collected these benefits and were not returned to your position, a New Jersey employment lawyer can help you understand whether this change applies to your situation. The attorneys at Rabner Baumgart Ben-Asher & Nirenberg, P.C. represent employees throughout New Jersey and follow employment law developments like this one closely.
How New Jersey Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance Work
New Jersey runs two state insurance programs that replace part of a worker’s pay during certain absences. Temporary disability insurance, often called TDI (and sometimes referred to as short term disability, or STD), applies when you cannot work because of your own illness, injury, pregnancy, or recovery from childbirth that is not related to your job. Family leave insurance, often called FLI, applies when you take time off to bond with a new child or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Most employees in the state contribute to these programs through payroll deductions, and most employees can collect benefits when a qualifying need arises. Pregnancy and recovery from childbirth, which fall under temporary disability, often overlap with the workplace protections explained on our pregnancy discrimination page.
Until now, these laws did one thing. They replaced a portion of lost wages, but they said nothing about your job. An employer could pay into the system, watch an employee collect benefits, and still decline to take that employee back at the end of the leave without violating either of these laws. The right to return to work, and the right to be placed in the same or an equivalent position, came from other laws.
What Other Laws Required Reinstatement Before This Change
Before this amendment, the right to be reinstated to your job after a family or disability leave mainly came from two sources: the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the New Jersey Family Leave Act (NJFLA). Both of those laws guarantee job-protected leave, but both limit who qualifies. However, neither the FMLA nor the NJFLA apply to smaller employers, and both have requirements with respect to how long you have worked for your employer and how many hours you have worked for your employer in the past year. You can read more on our family and medical leave page. In addition, even for covered employees, both of those laws provide only a maximum of 12 weeks off from work.
The practical result was a coverage gap. A worker could be fully eligible for state disability or family leave benefits, collect them for weeks, and still fall outside the reinstatement protections of either statute. That worker received income during the absence, but had no guaranteed job to which to return. Lower-wage employees, part-time employees, employees working for smaller businesses, and employees who needed more than 12 weeks off were the most exposed. A worker who was let go rather than reinstated often had to rely on a wrongful termination theory, which you can read about on our wrongful termination page.
What the Amendment Changes
The amendment adds new language entitling employees to reinstatement directly to the temporary disability and family leave insurance laws. The new text states that a covered employee who receives either of these benefits is entitled to be restored to the position they held when the leave began, or to an equivalent position with the same seniority, status, pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. The change takes effect on July 17, 2026.
Because the disability and family leave insurance programs reach far more workers than the federal and state family-leave statutes, this is a significant shift. If courts read the new language broadly, the right to reinstatement would not depend on employer size or how long the employee worked for the employer the way FMLA and NJFLA do. A worker who qualifies for benefits may now look to the TDI and FLI laws themselves when seeking to return to work.
The same amendment also expands the New Jersey Family Leave Act. For example, it lowers the employer-size threshold so smaller businesses are covered, starting at fifteen employees on the effective date and dropping further over the following two years. It also relaxes the service and hours requirements employees must meet to be covered by it. The new reinstatement language and the expanded Family Leave Act work together to extend job protection to a wider group of New Jersey workers than before.
What To Do If You Take or Return from Leave
Workers across Bergen County and the rest of New Jersey who are planning a family or medical leave, are currently collecting TDI or FLI benefits, or returning to work from such a leave can take a few steps to protect their position. Keep written records of your leave dates, the benefits you received, and copies of any communications with your employer about your return. Save emails, text messages, and letters that discuss your job, your leave, or your reinstatement. If your employer tells you that your position is no longer available, ask it for the reason in writing.
Pay attention to timing. Many employment claims in New Jersey are subject to filing deadlines, and waiting too long can limit your options.
If you are offered a severance agreement in connection with your departure, have it reviewed before you sign, because these agreements often ask you to give up legal rights in exchange for payment. Our severance agreement page explains what to watch for.
None of this requires you to confront your employer on your own. An attorney who handles these matters can review the facts, explain where you stand, and tell you whether the TDI, STD, FMLA, NJFLA, or another law fits your situation.
Talk With a New Jersey Employment Lawyer
If you collected disability or family leave benefits and your employer refused to return you to your job, or if you are about to take leave and want to understand your rights, the attorneys at Rabner Baumgart Ben-Asher & Nirenberg, P.C. can review the facts, explain your options, and discuss your next steps. The firm represents employees throughout New Jersey, including workers across Bergen County. A New Jersey employment lawyer at our firm can be reached at (201) 777-2250.